Vacuum packaging apparatus

ABSTRACT

This invention is a method and apparatus for vacuum packaging articles in flexible pouches or bags wherein the apparatus has a plurality of vacuumizing nozzles and includes pouch sealing means. Each nozzle is vertically mounted at the end of a rotatable arm, the arms resembling spokes in a horizontal wheel. The neck of a filled bag is placed around the barrel of the nozzle, and the nozzle clamps the bag neck between the barrel and a plunger coaxially located in and below the opening to the barrel. The bag remains in this clamped position as it rotates around to a pouch sealing means which is synchronized to meet the bag and close, seal, and sever the bag from the nozzle. When severed, the bag may drop onto a conveyor belt.

United States Patent Waldrop et al.

[ Dec. 25, 1973 VACUUM PACKAGING APPARATUS [75] Inventors: Thomas E. Waldrop, Greer; Philip L. Reid, Duncan, both of SC.

[73] Assignee: W. R. Grace & Co., Duncan, SC.

[22] Filed: June 1, 1972 [21] Appl. No.: 258,665

[52] US. Cl. 53/112 B [51] Int. Cl B65b 31/06 [58] Field of Search 53/22 B, 112 B; 29/211 D, 243.56; 227/81 [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,094,825 6/1963 Bracey et al. 53/112 B 2,827,632 3/1958 Faeber 227/81 Primary ExaminerTravis S, McGehee Attorney-John J. Toney et a1.

[ 5 7] ABSTRACT This invention is a method and apparatus for vaccum packaging articles in flexible pouches or bags wherein the apparatus has a plurality of vacuumizing nozzles and includes pouch sealing means. Each nozzle is vertically mounted at the end ofa rotatable arm, the arms resembling spokes in a horizontal wheel. The neck of a filled bag is placed around the barrel of the nozzle, and the nozzle clamps the bag neck between the bar rel and a plunger coaxially located in and below the opening to the barrel. The bag remains in this clamped position as it rotates around to a pouch sealing means which is synchronized to meet the bag and close, seal, and sever the bag from the nozzle. When severed, the bag may drop onto a conveyor belt.

6 Claims, 11 Drawing Figures PATENIEB UECZ 51975 7 SHEEI 1 OF 6 FIG. 3

VACUUM PACKAGING APPARATUS FIELD OF INVENTION This invention relates to a vacuum packaging apparatus and method. Particularly, this invention relates to the vacuum packaging of articles in flexible, relatively impervious pouches or bags. The articles packaged are preferably, poultry, ham, and like food products.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION A prior art rotary machine for vacuumizing bagged articles is disclosed in US. Pat. No. 3,648,430, issued to John T. Roberts and Philip L. Reid. One of the chief advantages to this type of machine is that a multiplicity of nozzles is provided so that an operator of the machine can simply load a bagged product onto the nozzle as it rotates by him and the bag will be continuously evacuated until it rotates to an automatic closing or clipping device where it is sealed. Single nozzle devices which had heretofore been quite common require the operator to stand and hold a single bagged product and the evacuation of the bag depended upon how long the operator would hold the bag before clipping and sealing it. Accordingly, it is one object of the present invention to provide an improved rotary vacuumizing machine.

Many different vacuumizing nozzle designs are available in the prior art. One particularly pertinent nozzle is disclosed in U. S. Pat. No. 3,094,825 issued to F. J. Bracey et al. The nozzle disclosed in the Bracey patent has a coaxially disposed flared nozzle extension in the center of the nozzle barrel which serves to clamp the neck of a bag between the flared extension or plunger and the barrel of the nozzle. One of the objects in the present invention is to provide a vacuumizing apparatus employing a nozzle which is an improvement over the aforementioned nozzle.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a vacuumizing apparatus which is simpler and easier for an operator to load and use than those in the prior art.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a vacuumizing machine and apparatus which can be used with a number of conveyor infeed and outfeed configurations.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a vacuumizing machine and apparatus which will uniformly evacuate a bagged product.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a nozzle which prevents dripping of moisture back into the bagged product.

The foregoing and other objects will become evident from the following summary of the invention, the description of the preferred embodiment, and the attached drawings.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In its broadest aspect, the present invention is an apparatus and method for vacuum packaging articles in flexible pouches wherein the apparatus has a plurality of vacuumizing nozzles and includes a pouch sealing means, the improvement comprising a moving nozzle for supporting and continuously evacuating a filled pouch while the nozzle is in motion, and synchronous pouch sealing means for engaging a pouch while in motion and sealing and severing same from the nozzle. In a narrower aspect, the nozzles are mounted for rotation about a fixed point and the synchronous pouch sealing means meets and rotates with the nozzles for a portion of their path.

In a more limited aspect, the present invention is an apparatus comprising a turret mounted for driven rotation, means for driving the turret, a plurality of arms radially extending from said turret, a vacuum nozzle at the end of each of said arms wherein each nozzle has a vertically movable barrel with a downwardly facing opening, a clamping plunger disposed within each of said barrels for clamping a bag between the plunger and the barrel thereby supporting a filled bag, a valve actuated by said clamping plunger to communicate vacuum with the interior of a bag placed around said barrel, a pouch sealing and severing means, and synchronized means for supporting and carrying said pouch sealing and severing means so that the bag attached to each nozzle is closed and severed from the nozzle. One preferred synchronous means for carrying the sealing and severing means is a crank driven by the turret driving means which translates rotary motion to linear motion. The turret revolves once while the number of crank revolutions equals the number of nozzles so that there is a complete oscillation of the synchronous means for each nozzle.

A preferred nozzle is one having a barrel slidably mounted in a cover and having upper and lower nozzle portions coaxially positioned in the barrel. The upper and lower portions have mating flanges and are resiliently held together. Attached to the lower end of the lower nozzle portion is a flared resilient plunger which is positioned outside of the barrel so that a bag neck can be clamped therebetween. The lower nozzle portion can be swung a limited distance like a pendulum and such motion will separate the mating flanges on the nozzle portions. The upper portion is provided with a central vacuum duct or passageway and the separation of the flanges will introduce vacuum into the barrel, and the barrel, being slidably mounted, will move down upon the plunger under the force created by the air pressure differential thus clamping the bag between the plunger and the barrel and at the same time introducing vacuum into the interior of the bag. This clamping action will hold a filled bag. The vacuum valve and clamping action are released by the introduction of compressed air into the barrel.

The present invention may be better understood by reference to the accompanying drawings and the detailed description.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In the drawings which are attached hereto and made a part of this specification:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the apparatus of the present invention having a cut-away showing some of the internal mechanism;

FIG. 2 is a schematic representation of a sectional elevation view looking from the lower left-hand side of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a view of a vertical section through one embodiment of a nozzle of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a partial vertical section view showing the nozzle of FIG. 3 when the vacuum valve is open and a bag is clamped by the nozzle;

FIG. 4a is a perspective view of the resilient means holding the upper and lower nozzle portions of the nozzle shown in FIG. 3;

FIG. 4b is a vertical section through a preferred embodiment of a nozzle according to the present invention;

FIG. is a horizontal sectional view showing the layout of the driving means and synchronous means for the subject invention;

FIG. 6a is a schematic representation of the use of the apparatus of the present invention with a straightthrough conveyor;

FIG. 6b is a schematic representation of an alternate arrangement of conveyor belts for use with the apparatus of the subject invention;

FIG. 7a is a partial top plan view of the product locator included in the subject invention; and

FIG. 7b is a side elevation view of the product locator showing its operation in cooperation with a nozzle of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring first to FIG. 1, a preferred embodiment of the apparatus of the present invention is shown in perspective with a section cut away to show the arrangement of the drive mechanisms. Also, reference will be made to FIG. 2 which is a schematic representation of a section in elevation looking from the lower left-hand side of FIG. 1. In both FIGS. 1 and 2, vacuumizing machine or apparatus 1 is shown carried by support stand 2. Extending upwardly through the center of the machine is a central support shaft 3 which carries the revolving turret 4. Extending outwardly from the turret 4 are arms 5. In this embodiment six arms 5 are shown, but a larger or smaller number of arms can be used. At the end of each arm 5 is a nozzle cover 6 in which a barrel 7 is slidably mounted. A flared ring or clamping plunger 8 extends downwardly from the downwardly facing opening of the barrel 7 so that when a bag 10 filled with a product 9 has its neck placed around the barrel 7, the downward movement of the barrel 7 will clamp the neck of the bag and hold and support same.

Extending outwardly on support arm 63 is the bag closing and severing means or clipper and cutter 14 which has a clipper gate 15 through which the product enters and which gathers and compresses the bag neck before the bag is closed by clipping and then severed. The clips are fed from a magazine 16 and the closing and sealing means 14 drive the clips completely around the gathered bag neck before the bag is severed between the nozzle and the clip.

Motion transfer member 17 is mounted for oscillating movement and carries arm 63 which supports the clipper 14. Attached to the motion transfer member 17 is crank drive arm 21 which is attached to crank drive wheel 22. The crank drive wheel 22 is on a common shaft with the turret drive pinion l9 and this common shaft is powered by the driving means or motor 18. The crank arm 21 translates the rotary motion of crank drive wheel 22 into linear oscillating motion and, through motion transfer member 17 and support arm 63, oscillates clipper 14. In the preferred embodiment, the turret drive pinion 19 has twenty gear teeth and the turret gear 20 has 120 teeth, thus the drive pinion 19 makes six revolutions for each revolution of the turret. Hence, crank 21 makes six complete oscillations for each revolution of the turret so that there is a complete oscillation of the clipper 14 for each of the nozzles 7. The diameter of the crank wheel 22 and the length of the crank arm 21 are set so that the stroke of the crank arm 21 will move clipper 14 at the same angular velocity of nozzle 7. Thus, clipper 14 is synchronized to meet a nozzle 7 at the extremity of its clockwise stroke and then move counterclockwise with the nozzle through an are on during which time the clipping and severing are accomplished. When this is accomplished, the nozzles continue in their counterclockwise rotation while the clipper 14 moves 30 clockwise to meet the next nozzle which has in the meantime moved 30 counterclockwise, the nozzles being set at 60 intervals.

To the left of drive pinion 20 is cam shaft drive gear 23. The cam gear 23 turns cam shaft 29 which is located in housing 24. Three cams on cam shaft 29 together with a switch on the clipper control the sequence of the clippers operation. The clipper switch (not shown), when struck by the clipper barrel, closes the clipper gate and turns on the air supply to the cam controlled switches that follow. Cam 30 actuates the clipper hammer which drives the clips securely around the bag neck, cam 31 controls the cutter which severs the bag from the nozzle, and cam 32 resets the switches for the next cycle. Each cam operates a pneumatic switch (not shown) which sends compressed air to the specified mechanism. Rods 33, 3,4, and 35 extend to the right-hand side of FIG. 2 and terminate in adjustment nuts 36, 37, and 38 outside housing 11. These adjustment nuts allow the position of the respective cam followers to be adjusted so that the timing of the clipper functions may be adjusted as required. A notch (not shown) is provided in the nozzle barrel so that when a nozzle is not loaded and lowered with a filled bag, the switch will pass through the notch and the clipper will not operate.

The compressed air for the apparatus is supplied through line 27 which may be attached to a conventional compressor. Lines enter the apparatus at the bottom at port 39 and a compressed air delivery tube 41 is provided by hollow support shaft 3. The bottom of support shaft 3 is journaled in sealed bearing 40.

Support shaft 3 passes through a second sealed journal 40a and immediately above is attached to turret drive gear 20 which rotatably drives the shaft 3. The shaft continues upwardly passing through the member 17 and terminates in supporting relationship with plenum 51. However, the compressed air line 41 does not enter plenum 51. The walls of plenum 51 in turn support the turret 4. The compressed air line 41 delivers compressed air to trunk line 42 from which compressed air lines (not shown) deliver air to switch inlets 43 of switch 46. There is one compressed air switch 46 for each vacuum nozzle 7. Switch outlet 44 which is in switch housing 45 is attached to a second vacuum line 48 (see FIG. 3) which is attached to nozzle barrel 7. From there a passageway 49 in the nozzle barrel 7 delivers compressed air into the interior of the nozzle barrel. Referring now to FIG. 2, the compressed air switch 46 is actuated by striker plate 47 as the switch rotates with the turret. When the switch 46 is actuated by the striker plate 47 a charge of compressed air is sent to the interior of the nozzle barrel 7 to release the nozzles from their clamping engagement with the bag as will be explained in greater detail hereinafter.

Still referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, vacuum line 26 delivers vacuum through delivery port 50 to plenum chamber 51. From plenum chamber 51 the arms 5 extend outwardly as hollow tubes delivering vacuum to the nozzle covers 6. Referring to FIG. 3, the end of arm 5 is shown in cover 6 and the hollow interior 52 of the tube 5 communicates with passageway 53a in cover 6. This passageway, in turn, joins with the passageway 53 in upper nozzle section 54 and continues down through the center of the upper nozzle section. The upper nozzle terminates in a lock 81 at its upper extremity which is keyed or pinned by pin 82 so that the nozzle will not rotate. Seals (not shown) are provided along the shaft of upper nozzle section 54 so there will be no leakage around its outer surfaces. The barrel 7 of the nozzle is resiliently carried by upper nozzle section 54 through coaxial coil spring 55. Thus, nozzle barrel 7 can slide upwardly and downwardly where cover surface 60 and nozzle barrel surface 61 meet. The spring 55 rests on a shoulder at the lower part of upper nozzle section 54 and below the shoulder is a flange 73. This flange matches flange 74 on lower nozzle section 56. The two flanges are held together by elastic bands 72. Lower nozzle section 56 has a nozzle inlet 62 in its lateral side and this connects with an interior vertical passageway which terminates in nozzle opening 59. The top of the lower section 56 is completely closed across flange 74. The lower part of the lower nozzle section 56 has a flared rubber or resilient ring 58 which completely encircles the lower section 56. This flared locking ring 58 also serves as a locking plunger to lock a bag neck between the plunger and the barrel.

Referring to FIG. 4, the operation of the vacuum nozzle will be explained. An operator places the neck of the bag 10 around barrel 7 of the nozzle and in so doing swings lower nozzle section 56 into vertical position thus separating a portion of flanges 73 and 74. (In FIG. 3 it should be noted that lower section 56 is offset at an angle from the vertical.) With lower section 56 in vertical position and the flanges 73 and 74 separated, vacuum is introduced into the nozzle barrel cavity from passageway 53 through the separation in the flanges. The interior of the barrel becomes evacuated, and at the same time vacuum is drawn in the bag. During this period of time the operator is holding the neck of the bag around the barrel 7. When the vacuum becomes strong enough to overcome the tension of spring 55, barrel 7 will be drawn downwardly and will clamp the bag 10 between the plunger ring 58 and the opening to the barrel. The flexible wall of the bag 10 will always be pulled into the barrel opening to be wedged completely around the periphery of the barrel opening as shown in FIG. 4 because the vacuum acts to draw the bag neck walls against the plunger 58 and partially into the barrel cavity before the barrel 7 descends. Since a very high vacuum is employed, usually approaching 29 inches of mercury, the initial evacuation of the barrel and bag, and hence, the descent of the barrel, take place almost instaneously.

The valve action or separation of the flanges to initiate the evacuation of the barrel and bag can be better understood by reference to FIG. 4a. FIG. 4a is a perspective view in partial section of the flanges showing the lower portion of upper nozzle section 54 and the upper portion of lower nozzle section 56. The two flanges mate identically with each other and the passageway 53 continues through the flange 73 so that there is an opening which is sealed off by flange 74 when the two flanges are held together. Two T-slots 75 are provided in flange 73 and locking pins 76 which are attached to the flange 74 are inserted through the crossbar of the T and then the flanges are rotated to align the grooves which carry the resilient bands 72. The locking pins limit the movement of lower section 56 and actually carry the load of the bag and transmit it to upper nozzle section 54. The resilient bands 72 are elastic or rubber bands that keep the flanges clamped tightly together.

An alternate and preferred embodiment of the nozzle of the present invention is shown in FIG. 4b. In this arrangement, the lateral or side port 62 in the lower nozzle section 56 is eliminated and an off-center port 77 is provided which locates the lower opening to the central passageway of upper nozzle section 54 between the flanges 73 and 74 so that port 77 does not communicate with the central passageway 59 of the lower nozzle section 56. Again, lower nozzle section 56 is not vertically aligned within the barrel but is at an angle to the vertical. Flange 74, in the embodiment of FIG. 4b, is of a greater diameter than flange 73. Around the perimeter of flange 74, a vertical wall 78 rises to form a cup which partially encloses the lower part of upper nozzle section 54. A retainer 79 is provided at the top of wall 78 to hold spring 80 in place. Spring 80 rests upon flange 73 and spring 80 provides the resilient means for holding flange 74 against flange 73. In this embodiment, when the lower nozzle portion 56 is swung to a vertical position, vacuum is introduced into the barrel cavity through the separation between flanges 73 and 74. Also, moisture which has collected in the cup defined by wall 78 and flange 74 will be drawn up through and out passage 53. This anti-drip feature prevents moisture from dripping into a bag.

In both the embodiments shown in FIGS. 4 and 4b, evacuation of the bag continues after the nozzle barrel 7 has descended and clamped the bag neck against the plunger ring 58. The continued evacuation takes place in the FIG. 4 embodiment through nozzle 59, port 62, and through the opening between the flanges 73 and 74. In the embodiment of FIG. 4b the evacuation of the bag takes place through nozzle passageway 59 and through port 77 which, when lower section 56 is swung into vertical position, will communicate with passageway 59. Evacuation continues to withdraw all of the residual air from the bags while the turret rotates the nozzle into position to be sealed and severed. This extended period of evacuation serves to ensure that all of the air which may have been trapped within crevices within the bag or within the product has been removed.

The band 74 in FIG. 4a or the coil spring 80 in FIG. 4b are resilient means which hold the flanges 73 and 74 together, thus defining a valve 57 which is actuated by the swinging of lower nozzle section 56 into a vertical position. 7

Once the bag has been severed from the nozzle, a charge of compressed air is supplied through port 49. This serves to unlock the clamping action bydriving the mouth or opening of barrel 7 up off plunger ring 58. The compressed air charge is actuated by compressed air switch 46 striking striker plate 47 as explained in the description of FIG. 2. Striker plate 47 is located so that switch 46 will be struck as a nozzle leaves a clipper or sealing and severing means.

FIG. 5 shows the layout of the turret drive gear and the crank which oscillates the clipper arm. This view is with the turret and upper housing removed and is looking down on the gear and drive area. In this view, the motor drive pinion 19 is below crank wheel 22, but

crank wheel 22 and the drive pinion turn at the same angular velocity being driven off the common vertical shaft from the drive means which is an electric motor. Connecting rod or crank arm 21 is shown connected to a portion of the motion transfer member 17. This is the member which carries the arm 63 which supports the clipper. The drive pinion turns the turret drive gear 20 and the central support shaft 3 is fixed to the hub of gear 20. The central compressed air delivery channel 41 which is the hollow portion of support shaft 3 is also shown in this view as is cam shaft drive gear 23.

Turning now to FIGS. 6a and 6b, two of the several possible arrangements of the apparatus of the present invention with conveyor belts are shown. In FIG. 6a the product 9 is shown moving in the direction of the arrows on the conveyor belt 65. The product 9 will usually have been bagged before reaching this point, the bagging having been done by automatic machinery downstream of the conveyor. However, in some instances the operator may bag the product at this point.

In any event, the operator 66 takes a bag filled with the product 9 and places the neck of the bag around the nozzle barrel, swinging the plunger into vertical position as he does so. This initially evacuates the bag and actuates the clamping of the bag between the nozzle barrel and the plunger. From the point at which the operator 66 in FIG. 6a loads the nozzle, the filled bag rotates counterclockwise around to clipper 14 where the bag is sealed and severed and dropped onto the conveyor as the vacuumized package 10. In this arrangement control box 13 is placed within convenient reach of the operator 66 so that he may start and stop the apparatus as needed. (The location of control box 13 is also shown in FIG. 1.) Opposite the control box 13 is an auxiliary control box 69 which is so placed so that if an emergency were to arise, another person from the other side of the conveyor belt could reach across and shut off the apparatus. In this arrangement, the product 9 exits traveling in the same direction it entered.

In FIG. 61:, another arrangement is shown with the counterclockwise rotating apparatus according to the present invention. In this arrangement, operator 66 removes a bagged product from the infeed conveyor 67 and places it on the nozzle which rotates around to the clipper. Subsequently, the clipper seals and severs the bag dropping it onto outfeed conveyor 68. The product here exits in the direction opposite to which it entered. Thus, great flexibility can be obtained in processing plant layout with the use of the present invention.

Turning now to FIGS. 70 and 7b, a product spacer or guide 70 is shown attached to the clipper unit 14. The locating notch 71 on the spacer arm 70 is preferably about the same length as 1/6 of the path traveled by a nozzle in a complete rotation. Thus, in the embodiment described where six nozzles are used, the positioning notch 71 is about 60 around a circle from clipper 14. In FIG. 7b a side view of the spacer arm 70 is shown with a bag filled with product 9. While the apparatus of the present invention can be successfully loaded by an operator without the guide arm 70, the arm 70 provides assistance in spacing the product 9 from the nozzle 10 and forces the product 9 all the way to the bottom of the bag, thus eliminating folds and crevices where air might be trapped. This arm, of course, can be adjusted for the various size products.

The sealing and severing means or clipper 14 used in the present invention has not been described in detail as a satisfactory clipper 14 is commercially available. A suitable clipper for counterclockwise rotation of the apparatus of the present invention is Model 2-3106 from the Tipper-Tie Division of Rheem Manufacturing Company of New York, New York. For clockwise rotation clipper Model Z-3l07 from the same company can be used. Other sealing and severing means which can, with some modification, be adapted to the present invention are those devices described in either of the following US. Pats: No. 3,394,528 issued to M. J. G. Tipper or No. 3,046,713 issued to K. E. Belknap.

The apparatus of the present invention can employ any number of nozzles and can be used for either clockwise or counterclockwise rotation, thus making it quite flexible in its adaptation to processing plant layouts. Its continued evacuation of a pouch while a pouch is rotated about a fixed point, i.e., the center of the turret or the vertical axis of the machine, provides for complete evacuation of the pouch which is highly desirable for packaging foods. However, other products as well could be packaged by this apparatus.

We claim:

1. A vacuum packaging apparatus comprising:

a. a turret mounted for driven rotation;

b. means for driving said turret;

c. a plurality of arms radially extending from said turret;

d. a vacuum nozzle at the end of each of said arms, said nozzle having a vertically movable barrel with a downwardly facing opening;

e. a clamping plunger associated with each of said barrels for clamping the neck of a bag between said plunger and barrel thereby supporting a filled bag;

f. a valve actuated by said clamping plunger to communicate a vacuum with the interior of a clamped g. a bag sealing and severing means; and

h. means for synchronizing the motion of said bag sealing means whereby said nozzles rotated by said turret with filled bags clamped thereto are met by said sealing and severing means and move for part of their rotation with said sealing and severing means, said synchronous means comprising:

i. a crank driven by said turret driving means, the turret revolving once while the number of crank revolutions equals the number of nozzles;

ii. an oscillating drive member for vertical transfer of motion, said drive member being connected to the crank pin of said crank; and,

iii. a horizontal support arm connected to said drive member to carry said sealing and severing means.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 including compressed air means for releasing the clamping position of said plunger and said barrel.

3. A vacuum packaging apparatus comprising:

a. a supported vacuum nozzle cover;

b. a barrel slidably mounted in said cover;

0. an upper nozzle coaxially positioned in said barrel,

said nozzle having a central passageway and a peripheral flange around its lower extremity;

d. resilient means supportingly connecting said barrel and said upper nozzle;

e. a lower nozzle terminating in an upper flange adapted to mate with said flange on said upper nozzle; and,

f. resilient means holding said mating flanges together whereby when the lower nozzle is swung away from its mating position a passageway is opened to allow vacuum to be introduced into said barrel.

4. The apparatus of claim 3 wherein said lower nozzle has a centrally disposed passageway defining a nozzle opening at its lower extremity and communicating with a side port at its upper extremity.

5. The apparatus of claim 4 including elastic band resilient means to hold said flanges securely and together.

6. The apparatus of claim 3 wherein the flange on the lower nozzle section is of greater diameter than the mating flange of said upper nozzle section and includmg:

i. a central passageway in said lower nozzle section;

ii. a central passageway in said upper nozzle section terminating at its lower end in an opening locating off-center from the passageway in said lower nozzle section whereby when the two nozzle sections are held together the passageways in the respective nozzle sections cannot communicate with each other;

iii. a wall rising from the periphery of the flange of said lower nozzle section, said wall and said flange defining a moisture collecting cup; and

iv. resilient means connecting said peripheral wall and the flange on said upper nozzle section whereby said resilient means holds said flanges securely together. 

1. A vacuum packaging apparatus comprising: a. a turret mounted for driven rotation; b. means for driving said turret; c. a plurality of arms radially extending from said turret; d. a vacuum nozzle at the end of each of said arms, said nozzle having a vertically movable barrel with a downwardly facing opening; e. a clamping plunger associated with each of said barrels for clamping the neck of a bag between said plunger and barrel thereby supporting a filled bag; f. a valve actuated by said clamping plunger to communicate a vacuum with the interior of a clamped bag; g. a bag sealing and severing means; and h. means for synchronizing the motion of said bag sealing means whereby said nozzles rotated by said turret with filled bags clamped thereto are met by said sealing and severing means and move for part of their rotation with said sealing and severing means, said synchronous means comprising: i. a crank driven by said turret driving means, the turret revolving once while the number of crank revolutions equals the number of nozzles; ii. an oscillating drive member for vertical transfer of motion, said drive member being connected to the crank pin of said crank; and, iii. a horizontal support arm connected to said drive member to carry said sealing and severing means.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1 including compressed air means for releasing the clamping position of said plunger and said barrel.
 3. A vacuum packaging apparatus comprising: a. a supported vacuum nozzle cover; b. a barrel slidably mounted in said cover; c. an upper nozzle coaxially positioned in said barrel, said nozzle having a central passageway and a peripheral flange around its lower extremity; d. resilient means supportingly connecting said barrel and said upper nozzle; e. a lower nozzle terminating in an upper flange adapted to mate with said flange on said upper nozzle; and, f. resilient means holding said mating flanges together whereby when the lower nozzle is swung away from its mating position a passageway is opened to allow vacuum to be introduced into said barrel.
 4. The apparatus of claim 3 wherein said lower nozzle has a centrally disposed passageway defining a nozzle opening at its lower extremity and communicating with a side port at its upper extremity.
 5. The apparatus of claim 4 including elastic band resilient means to hold said flanges securely and together.
 6. The apparatus of claim 3 wherein the flange on the lower nozzle section is of greater diameter than the mating flange of said upper nozzle section and including: i. a central passageway in said lower nozzle section; ii. a central passageway in said upper nozzle section terminating at its lower end in an opening locating off-center from the passageway in said lower nozzle section whereby when the two nozzle sections are held together the passageways in the respective nozzle sections cannot communicate with each other; iii. a wall rising from the periphery of the flange of said lower nozzle section, said wall and said flange defining a moisture collecting cup; and iv. resilient means connecting said peripheral wall and the flange on said upper nozzle section whereby said resilient means holds said flanges securely together. 